Indo-Afghan Strategic Alliance in Post 9/11 Era: Implications for Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan shares a border with India to its east and Afghanistan to its northwest. Due to Pakistan’s geography it has suffered a lot in the aftermath of the 9/11 horrific incident. At the same time, India has become Afghanistan’s largest donor, carrying out numerous socioeconomic and developmental projects mainly centered in Southern Afghanistan along with military training. India is increasing its influence in Afghanistan in terms of soft power. As a consequence, the growing relationship between India and Afghanistan poses a challenge to Pakistan’s internal security. India is following Chanakya’s philosophy and taking a variety of other steps to destabilize Pakistan and control Afghanistan because of its geographical position. India’s prime motive is to strategically encircle Pakistan and become the regional hegemon. Hence, there is a geostrategic tussle going on between Pakistan and India in Afghanistan. Case Study design has been employed in this research. Structured interviews from subject specialist are carried out for this research. This research highlights what measures Pakistan should take in order to counter the Indo-Afghan nexus.